Defending US Open champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut finished strongly as they opened their 2016 Flushing Meadows campaign with a 7-6(8), 6-1 victory over Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki on Wednesday in New York.

The top-seeded French duo won their first Grand Slam title 12 months ago at the US Open before winning their second major trophy at Wimbledon this year. They have already secured their place at the year-end Barclays ATP World Tour Finals this season after also winning three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte-Carlo, as well as lifting the trophy at The Queen’s Club.

However, another all-French duo did not fare so well. Eleventh seeds Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, whom Herbert and Mahut defeated in the Wimbledon final, were beaten in the first round by Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Marcelo Demoliner, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nick Kyrgios, Feliciano Lopez, Kevin Anderson and Grigor Dimitrov are all set to compete at the inaugural Chengdu Open, from 24 September to 2 October.

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The ATP World Tour 250 tournament, which offers $947,735 in total prize money, will be held at the Sichaun International Tennis Centre, which has a 6,000-seater Centre Court and has previously hosted events on the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP Champions Tour.

“On behalf of the entire tournament team and all our valuable partners with special emphasis on the Chengdu city leadership, the CTA [Chinese Tennis Association] and ATP World Tour, we take this early opportunity to thank the many parties who joined forces with total positivity, to create the inaugural Chengdu Open in such a short period of time,” said Tournament Director Nick Freyer.

The Chengdu Open is one of five tournaments on the ATP World Tour’s Asian Swing, including the Shenzhen Open, China Open, Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships and Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Andy Murray gave Lukas Rosol no room to breathe in a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 first-round victory at the US Open on Tuesday. The Czech was a tricky opening draw for the No. 2 seed, having overpowered Rafael Nadal in the second round at Wimbledon in 2012. However, Murray gave Rosol nothing to work with and prevailed in under two hours.

“He had a few chances the first couple of service games and came out going for his shots,” Murray said. “I got through that tricky period right at the start when he’s hitting the ball really well and kind of adjusted to the conditions. The arena is a lot louder than most places where we play, so you don’t hear the ball as much. There’s a slightly different sound in there. Once I got through that, I settled down and played a really good match.”

Murray, dressed in an intimidating all-black outfit, set the tone for the match by breaking Rosol after a long sixth game in the first set. The Czech was attempting to overturn a 0-2 deficit in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Murray and looked to be the first to inject pace and change directions in baseline rallies. Murray used Rosol’s aggressiveness against him, restricting the 31 year old to 27 winners and forcing him to commit 45 unforced errors. Murray finished with the same number of winners, but made 28 fewer unforced errors.

Outmatched from the back of the court, Rosol also struggled on serve. He struck three aces and won only 32 per cent of second-serve points (11/34), while Murray fired 11 aces and won two-thirds of points on his second delivery (19/29). Murray did not face a break point in the match.

“Because of the roof, there’s literally no wind at all. It almost has a feel of playing indoors because there’s no wind. It’s perfect conditions to play in really,” Murray said. “I served very well tonight. I used good variation on the second serve. The first serve was very good. That’s something that I worked on a lot. When I serve well, the rest of my game tends to follow.”

The 2016 Wimbledon champion has reached seven consecutive tour-level finals dating back to April. He is now 51-7 on the year (21-4 on hard courts). Murray is 1,215 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Emirates ATP Race To London, and could take over top spot if he wins the tournament and if Djokovic fails to reach the final.

Next up for the 2012 US Open champion will be Spain’s Marcel Granollers, who beat Juan Monaco 7-6(5), 7-6(2), 6-4. Murray holds a commanding 6-1 lead in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. His only loss to Granollers came when he retired with the match tied one set-all in Rome three years ago. The Brit has never lost a set on hard court to the 30 year old from Barcelona.

The first round of the 2016 US Open has provided many thrilling moments, but perhaps none more than by its home hopes on the new Grandstand court.

On Monday, it was John Isner rallying from two sets down to deny #NextGen star Frances Tiafoe. On Tuesday, Steve Johnson saved six match points in storming back from an 0-2 deficit of his own to defeat Evgeny Donskoy 4-6, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-3 after three hours and 13 minutes.

“I have no idea what’s happening right now,” Johnson, No. 21 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, said after the match. “But I really felt the crowd was awesome. I had a blast winning and it’s something I’ll never forget. This is why you play; to get through these tough five-setters and move on.”

Johnson was serving down 2-5 0/40 in the third set, when the American rallied from the brink. Two return errors and a forehand unforced error from Donskoy, as well as a Johnson ace, saw the California native escape. But he was not out of the woods just yet, staring down the barrel of two more at 5-6. After Donskoy fired a return error, Johnson launched a backhand winner to save the sixth and final match point. From there, the reinvigorated American cruised to the finish line, claiming the set in a tie-break and dropping a combined six games in the fourth and fifth.

“I didn’t look so good for a while. At 2-5, I just found a way to hold. I got lucky and then we were back even. I have no idea how I got out of that game and just found a way to win those points. My mentally was that it’s not over. My goal walking out today was to win in three sets, but it doesn’t matter how it comes.

“After I finally broke, I started to play better and better. Then I won the third and I’m thinking that I’m in good control of the match even though I was down two sets. It doesn’t always come easy and it would be boring if it was that way.”

It was Johnson’s second comeback from two sets down in his career, following a victory over qualifier Laurent Lokoli at Roland Garros two years ago. In total, the former University of Southern California standout has won four five-set matches.

With the win, Johnson sets a blockbuster second round clash against 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro. It will be their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Swinging freely under lights on the Old Grandstand court, Nick Kyrgios is off to a flying start at the 2016 US Open, downing Aljaz Bedene in straight sets. The 14^th-seeded Australian moved past the Brit, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in under two hours.

Having raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set, the Canberra native saw his lead slip and appeared troubled when he took an injury time-out for treatment on his hip and lower back. Returning to the court to serve, he brought up two set points with a big off-forehand winner and closed out the set on his second opportunity with an ace, before leaving the court for more treatment.

Kyrgios downplayed the injury, citing his grueling training schedule leading into the US Open.

“I was nursing a little bit of an injury, and I how I responded was really well. I’m really happy,” Kyrgios said. “I thought I played solid, returned well, served well, hit the ball well. That was a pretty good all-around performance.

“It’s my hip. It’s fine at the moment. Obviously with the US Open I wanted to find my form, and I don’t know, just a bit of a load but it’s OK. It’s nothing to worry about.”

The 21 year old was rarely troubled from then on. He broke early in both second and third sets before bringing up match point with an unreturnable first serve. Kyrgios closed it out when Bedene dumped a forehand into the net, setting up a second-round meeting with Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

The Aussie relished the close confines of the Old Grandstand and said he enjoying the crowd interaction.

“I don’t really zone it out, to be honest,” Kyrgios said of the crowd interjections. “Some guy was like, ‘Change your clothes, that’s an awful outfit’.

“I was trying to come up with a comeback. I didn’t want to say anything. He was an old man. He got me this time.”

The chances of an all-Australian Top-20 showdown in the third round, however, were foiled. In a rematch of their US Open first-round match from last year, Bosnian Damir Dzumhur gained revenge on 17^th seed Bernard Tomic with a 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(0) upset.

The World No. 72 in the Emirates ATP Rankings had never won a match at Flushing Meadows but bolted out of the blocks to take a two-set lead before Tomic could find his range. Dzumhur broke for 5-4 in the fourth set to serve for the match but the Aussie rallied, eventually forcing the tie-break.

A wild forehand return from Tomic slapped into the net gave Dzumhur a 5/0 lead before a double fault brought up six match points. Dzumhur took it on his first opportunity, leaving Tomic stranded with an off-backhand return winner.